WHO Advances Implementation and Integration of ICD-11 and Related Medical Classifications and Terminologies

Geneva, Switzerland – May 2024 – As of May 2024, two years following the official coming into effect of ICD-11, 132 Member States and areas are at various phases of implementing the new classification system. Specifically, 72 countries have commenced the implementation process, including translation efforts. Additionally, 50 countries are either conducting or expanding implementation pilots, and 14 countries and areas have begun to collect or report data using ICD-11 coding.

Coinciding with the ICD-11 2024 release, three new language versions of ICD-11 have been officially launched. 10 languages, Arabic, Chinese, Czech, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Uzbek are available, with translations in an additional 25 languages underway.

The ICD-11 2024 version features enhanced diagnostic details and improved digital tools to support global health systems.

The ICD-11 2024 version includes over 200 new codes for allergens, providing greater diagnostic detail and precision. In addition, digital tools and APIs have been significantly improved. This release includes the candidate version of the WHO Digital Open Rule Integrated Cause of Death Selection (DORIS) tool, now available in multiple languages, alongside updated APIs. This comprehensive upgrade is expected to improve and strengthen the quality of cause of death information across all member states, supporting better health data management and policy-making.

To facilitate the transition from ICD-10 to ICD-11, WHO has enhanced the digital mapping tables with additional mapping options, offering comprehensive cross-references and guides. These enhancements aim to ensure a smoother and more efficient migration process for all countries.

By 2024, the WHO has made significant progress in linking various medical classifications and terminologies to enhance global health interoperability. This includes lossless mapping of MedDRA (Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities) to facilitate accurate reporting of drug-related information, embedding medical device nomenclature for consistency across international health systems, and incorporating Orphanet terminology to improve the classification and understanding of rare diseases. Additionally, WHO is establishing approaches for technical collaboration and linkages with the MONDO Disease Ontology to support accurate disease classification, initiating design efforts with LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) to link laboratory and clinical observations with interventions, and exploring potential methods and frameworks for collaboration with other terminology systems to enhance comprehensive health information management.

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ICD serves a broad range of uses globally and provides critical knowledge on the extent, causes and consequences of human disease and death worldwide via data that is reported and coded with the ICD. Clinical terms coded with ICD are the main basis for health recording and statistics on disease in primary, secondary and tertiary care, as well as on cause of death certificates. These data and statistics support payment systems, service planning, administration of quality and safety, and health services research. Diagnostic guidance linked to categories of ICD also standardizes data collection and enables large scale research.

For more than a century, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) has been the basis for comparable statistics on causes of mortality and morbidity between places and over time. Originating in the 19th century, the latest version of the ICD, ICD-11, was adopted by the 72nd World Health Assembly in 2019 and came into effect on 1st January 2022.   

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